Hotel Chocolat Group PLC (AIM:HOTC) said its finance chief and chair are leaving after nine and seven years respectively as it swung to a statutory post-tax loss of £9.4mln in the past year.
A loss was expected, but the final amount resulted in £30.4mln of impairments needed in Japan and St Lucia after a U-turn on overseas expansion plans.
Results were delayed as these impairments were calculated, with the chocolatier saying chief financial officer Matt Pritchard will leave next year.
Revenue for the year to 26 June 2022 came in at £226.1mln, up 37% on the previous year, while underlying profit before tax and exceptionals rose 126% to £21.7mln.
The swing from a £3.7mln statutory profit in the previous year reflected a “prudent approach to capital allocation” as even though international sales grew 126% to £11.6mln, profit margins were below internal expectations, leading to the board deciding to pause further investments in international stores in directly controlled operations in the USA and further loans to the Japan joint venture.
Currently around a third of the way through its new financial year, the AIM-listed company said retail trading was flat, while online and wholesale sales are softer.
Prudence is governing the outlook, with levels of seasonal inventory controlled with a focus on self-help actions to try and mitigate inflationary pressures.
A focus on ‘quality over quantity’ aims to reduce levels of discounting, with reduced spending on lower-margin online marketing.
The full-year outlook could go a number of ways, management said, with the annual festive seasons yet to come and a continued shift being seen from online to retail stores.